Japan Court Rules Out Closing Chubu Nuclear Plant
Date: 29-Oct-07
Country: JAPAN
The ruling by the district court in Shizuoka prefecture comes amid growing concern about nuclear safety in the quake-prone country after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in July forced Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to shut down the world's largest nuclear power plant.
The court rejected the lawsuit because Chubu's safety standards at the plant in Hamaoka were seen as sufficient based on scientific evidence, Kyodo news agency said, but the 27 people who filed the lawsuit in July 2003 have appealed the judgement.
"The safety measures set up by Chubu Electric to withstand the standard tremor that would occur in the biggest earthquake are appropriate," Kyodo quoted Presiding Judge Akira Miyaoka as saying.
Anti-nuclear activists criticised the ruling, saying it ignored evidence provided by plaintiffs, taking for granted that the safety checks by Chubu were fine.
"It essentially accepted that if the defendant's safety assessment and safety checks were carried out in accordance with government regulations, then all is well," the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center said in a statement.
"This is a totally unjustifiable presumption ... The plaintiffs and the local residents cannot conclude from this that the safety of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant has been proved."
The court also dismissed a temporary injunction filed separately by a group of 1,846 people in April 2002 to suspend the operation of the reactors, Kyodo said. It said that group also appealed.
Residents living near the Hamaoka reactor and elsewhere had demanded Chubu Electric close its No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 reactors, saying that large amounts of radiation would be released from the plant if a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck the area.
Japan's third-largest utility had argued that scientific evidence proved it was not possible for an earthquake of such scale to hit the area and that it could ensure the plant's safety plant even if a major earthquake did strike.
Chubu said in a statement it would ensure safety and increase trustworthiness at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which supervises the nuclear industry, said in a statement it would do its best to gain the public's trust by setting rigid safety standards for nuclear facilities.
It added it was not in a position to comment directly on the case as it was a civil lawsuit.
The No. 1 and No. 2 units at Hamaoka are already closed and scheduled to stay shut until March 2011 due to delays of upgrades of quake-resistant systems and other repair work. The No. 4 unit has been closed since Sept. 25 for regular maintenance, while the No. 5 reactor was not part of the lawsuit.
TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant -- the world's largest -- has been closed indefinitely following the July 16 quake.
In 1854 a power earthquake of a magnitude of 8.4 hit the area. Chubu said the plant is designed to withstand such a quake.
The world's largest recorded earthquake occurred in Chile on May 22, 1960. The magnitude measured 9.5 and triggered a tsunami that swept across the Pacific Ocean, killing scores of people in Hawaii, Japan and elsewhere.
